Calling All Cats

This story is being retold especially for Kaycee, who loves mouse stories. One morning last spring I was awakened by our cat. It was around 4:30am, I had less than an hour before starting the marathon called “my day”. The cat was scratching something, I had a hard time identifying what it was in my stupor. When I realized he was scratching at my nice scrapbook albums, I shot out of bed, wide awake. I ran to the rescue, and to my horror, a mouse was seeking protection in the binding of my scrapbooks. I don’t think I screamed, but I’m sure some sound escaped from my mouth. Maddie and Isaac were in bed with me, as David was working one of his overnighters. Maddie was awake and by my side almost instantly, and the two of us stood on my bed watching a real-life game of cat and mouse go from room to room in the wee hours of the morning. I called David, and begged him to come home to save me from this horrifying experience. Not only did he blow me off, he made me feel stupid. The cat was having a glorious time, tossing the mouse in the air, chasing it all over the house. Eventually the pair stayed in Isaac’s bedroom long enough for me to gather my bearings and run from the safety of my bed, to slam his door shut, containing the cat and his dead toy. I left the two of them for David to deal with. Traps were purchased, and I was on guard, though I was certain we were done with the mouse drama. After all, we weren’t living in an old farm house, our home was less than four years old and in a brand-new subdivision. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Just a few days later, on a Sunday morning, I had the kids in bed with me again, David working another overnighter. Maddie got up to go to the bathroom but came running back because she thought she saw a mouse. I’m sure that whatever sound came from my mouth that time was not G-rated. I did my best to calm her and myself and we stayed in bed until David got home. As the morning progressed, a chase was on once again, but this time it included Maddie and David along with the cat. There was indeed, another mouse. They chased it into Maddie’s room, though a day-long search turned up nothing. Let me pause, and tell you that Maddie is the bravest little girl I’ve ever known. I’ve seen her take inoculations in the arm without a tear, without even flinching. She has courage that I never did at her age, and I still don’t have even now. Her courage was put to the test the next day. As we began our week, the mouse was forgotten. We went about our routine, daycare, school, work. But when Maddie got to school that Monday, her day was greatly disrupted, far from the routine she deserved. While at ‘Kids Club’ (morning daycare held in the cafeteria), Maddie pawed through her book-bag and felt something moving around. Yes, folks, it was the mouse. Not just any old mouse, a mouse whose face was half-chewed courtesy of our cat. Panic tore through that cafeteria, with adults among the loudest of the screamers. One little girl tried to claim the mouse as her own. The mouse was soon caught and disposed of, leaving Maddie with a book-bag and jacket covered in mouse cooties. I didn’t learn of Maddie’s horrifying morning until that afternoon, and it wasn’t until then that I learned she went without a jacket all day. She never complained, never fussed, but she didn’t have to. I felt awful, guilty, disgusted, humiliated, and sad that my sweet girl had endured such a tortuous morning. I brought home a gift for her the next day, a new book-bag, of course.